BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team closed out the 2017 calendar year on a high note Sunday afternoon in the Steinberg Wellness Center, beating defending Northeast Conference champions Mount St. Mary's, 71-57. The win, LIU's first NEC win of the season, moved the Blackbirds to 6-9 overall and 1-1 in the NEC, while Mount fell to 6-9, 0-2 in NEC play.
 
Senior Joel Hernandez led all players with 21 points, while junior Raiquan Clark was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Julian Batts was also on fire, scoring 13 points, shooting 4-for-5 from three-point range.
 
The Mountaineers scored first in the game, but it would be their only lead of the day. A three-pointer from sophomore Julian Batts put LIU on top, and the Blackbirds led for the rest of the day.  LIU didn't miss much from the field at the start of the game, going 6-for-7 on the floor, including three treys to take an eight-point lead. Threes from both Batts and Hernandez helped give LIU the 15-7 at 14:09.
 
Mount would come back to start chipping away at the gap, closing it down to four points just before the 11-minute mark, but the Blackbirds answered with another run. Senior Jamall Robinson drained a three pointer at 11:04 that sparked a 10-0 spree by LIU. With the Blackbirds up 28-14 at 5:41, the visiting team called a timeout to assess the damage. The Mountaineers would start scoring again, and were able to close the lead down to nine points with 3:27 to play in the half, but Batts would drain back-to-back threes in the final two minutes to give the Blackbirds a 39-28 advantage at the halftime break.
 
LIU opened the second half with a quick layup from sophomore Julius van Sauers to widen the lead to 13 points, and from there, the Mountaineers never came within single digits. A couple of times, the Mount would close the gap to ten, but each time, LIU would drain a three to stall their momentum. At 13:59, Mount's Chris Wray made a layup to cut the lead 46-36, but 12 seconds later, Hernandez would hit a three to make it 49-36. Jamall Robinson did the same thing about eight minutes later, making one of his three three-pointers that would give LIU its widest lead of the game, 67-48 with 4:09 to play.
 
The Mount would make a late run in the final four minutes, outscoring LIU 9-0, but the Blackbirds had a big enough lead that it didn't cause a threat. Clark would make a dunk with one minute remaining, and Hernandez hit a jumper with 30 seconds to go that sealed the deal, and LIU won, 71-57.
 
NOTES FROM THE NEST

• The Blackbirds shot 55.6 percent from the field in the win to Mount St. Mary's 38.8 percent. LIU also shot 52.4 percent from three-point range.
• The Blackbirds' defense held the NEC's leading scorer, Junior Robinson, who averages 22 points per game, to just 12 points, on 5-for-15 shooting.
• LIU outrebounded the Mount, 34-24.
• Joel Hernandez scored 20+ points for the seventh-straight game, leading LIU with 21 points. He also had a team-high five assists and five rebounds.
• Raiquan Clark had his second double-double of the season, with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Clark was perfect from the field, shooting 7-for-7.
• Julian Batts was 4-for-5 from three-point range, scoring 13 points and grabbing five rebounds.
• Up next, the Blackbirds head to Pennsylvania to take on Saint Francis University and Robert Morris, January 4 and January 6.